


A Trickster is about balance

by therune



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-16
Updated: 2012-04-16
Packaged: 2017-11-03 19:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/384816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therune/pseuds/therune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Trickster is about freedom and laughter.<br/>                   In old times, Tricksters were gods.<br/>                   And even now... there is something about them,<br/>                   something bigger than themselves.<br/>                   Something ancient and powerful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Trickster is about balance

A Trickster is about balance. He walks the thin line between good and evil, forever between and above all sides.

James Jesse wasn´t by any means a modest man. He was brilliant and he knew it. He boasted on his looks, his intelligence, his wit and even his fashion sense.  
"How very clever of me!" was one of his most used quotes. He was in many ways simple and complex alike.  
He loved laughter, the thrill, the spark of joy and mischief.  
Then, something happened.  
Something he refused to talk about. Something that instantly triggered the Trickster-mask, a face that showed a big grin and revealed no information or emotion.  
No more crimes, no more thrill, no more.  
He dressed in blue suits, cropped his hair and started to work for the FBI. He was punctual, polite and efficient.  
He was the Trickster with every fiber of his being - and now he didn´t dare to show it.  
Not to anyone, not at anytime.

A Trickster is about balance.  
A Trickster is about freedom and laughter.  
In old times, Tricksters were gods.  
And even now... there is something about them, something bigger than themselves. Something ancient and powerful.

Axel Walker was a teen-aged troublemaker. Street smart, potty mouth and above all, arrogant. He boasted that he was cleverer than others, wittier than others and that quite frankly, everybody else sucked. There are only two ways in the world: being a trickster or getting tricked.

But two ways are one too few for the Trickster. A Trickster is the third solution when you have to choose between the lesser of two evils.  
He is neutral. Maybe chaotic, mischievous, arrogant, over-confident, but he is never evil. And never good.

There was a tiny hole in the universe. It seemed insignificant, but then, humans´ lives always do.  
But it wasn´t insignificant, like humans´ lives never are.  
It needed to be fixed.  
It needed to be filled.  
And so, the universe fixed it.

Axel Walker became the Trickster. Was it by choice or destiny? Those two are awfully close for a Trickster.

Axel laughs, he flies, he runs in the air and whoops with joy.  
But... something isn´t right. He is too young, too brash and too violent.  
He has taken lives. He lacks respect. He burns too bright and threatens to set the universe aflame.  
After all, James Jesse is still alive. James can be humble, James can be gentle, James never murdered.  
Balance... one Trickster and two persons.

The Rogues War happens.  
Something snaps.  
The Trickster, buried beneath a three-piece suit and a gun, breaks free. He sings, he soars and James Jesse beats Axel Walker with an inch of his life.

But the universe needs time to adjust.  
Time to focus on one Trickster.

The Trickster is overwhelmed with James´ efficiency, Axel´s violent streak, James´ detachment, Axel´s swear words -  
it´s not his fault. It´s not his fault either.  
Bart Allen dies.  
The Trickster is in turmoil. He was above the two sides called good and evil. Now he is torn between them.  
He acts out, he runs away, he curses, he hurts, himself and others, his mind is not his own.  
Slowly, while his body runs on energy he can´t possibly have anymore, very slowly James Jesse begins to resurface.  
The crude jokes stop. James can be humble. James can smile - not grin, smirk, sneer, snarl, but truly smile.  
James Jesse dies.

The hole in the universe had been stitched up.  
The stitches, poorly made in haste, break up again.  
The hole grows.  
The universe needs the Trickster.

Axel Walker becomes the Trickster.  
The Trickster is again one person. He is trying to find his way, the path between good and evil.

In the shadows, a green shadow laughs and mocks.  
The black hand rises the dead from their slumber.  
Puppets with the faces and memories of those lost stumble through a world that is no longer their one.  
A memory of the Trickster rises.  
It´s composed of violence, of arrogance and of hatred.

The universe will fix it.  
Axel Walker is the Trickster.  
But he´s not enough.  
And now - James Jesse will get a second chance.


End file.
